JPH03278797A - Remote controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the operation convenience by displaying a cursor to a position corresponding to a character on a display device and moving the display position of the cursor with a signal generated by an encoder rotation detection means. CONSTITUTION:When a rotary encoder 1 is driven, a pulse is generated depending on its rotating angle and rotating direction, it is read by a microcomputer 20 and the result is fed to a microcomputer 23 as a code corresponding to the rotating angle and rotating direction. The microcomputer 23 decodes the code and operates the display of a built-in character generator, so that the position of a cursor 12 displayed on the screen corresponding to the rotating angle and rotating direction of the rotary encoder 1 is moved among items of a menu. When the cursor is set to a specific item and a button switch 2 is depressed, a function corresponding to the item is selected and the function is executed. Thus, the operation convenience is attained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a remote control device used in a television receiver or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, television receivers, home VTRs, and the like have become more sophisticated and multifunctional, and as a result, it has become necessary for remote control devices to operate many functions.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, remote control devices for television receivers and VTRs, which have become multi-functional, have an extremely large number of keys to accommodate the multi-functions, making it difficult to know how to operate them. It is difficult to use and is difficult to use.

As a way to deal with this, there are methods to use the keys on the remote control device to switch between two or three functions frequently using different switches, or to display a menu on the display screen and use the keys to move the cursor. There are some that take the form of a menu where you press a selection key. However, in the former method, does the remote control device have a structure? The latter method is advantageous for increasing the number of functions, but when the number of selection items increases, it is difficult to use the cursor movement button. There is a problem in that you have to press the button multiple times or keep pressing it for a while, making it impossible to perform a quick selection operation.

The present invention provides the above-mentioned il! ! ! In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control device that is more convenient to use.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the remote control device of the present invention includes a rotary encoder, rotation detection means for detecting the rotation angle of the rotary encoder, and characters for displaying characters on a display screen. The apparatus includes a display means and a cursor display means for displaying a cursor at a position corresponding to a character on the display and for moving the display position of the cursor in response to a signal generated by the rotation detecting means.

Further, the present invention includes optical transmitting means and optical receiving means for transmitting the signal generated by the rotation detecting means to a distant place by modulating light.

Function: With the above-described configuration, the present invention displays a function menu on the screen, and by rotating the rotary encoder of the remote control device, the cursor on the screen can be moved to select a desired function. If you want to put the cursor on a function display and then make it actually function, you can either set up a separate selection button and press it to confirm, or you can automatically move the cursor to that area for a certain period of time. By realizing such ease of use, the present invention makes it possible to easily operate many functions of equipment such as television receivers and VTRs. be.

EXAMPLE An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a rotary encoder for operation, 2 is a button switch that displays an operation menu and instructs to select a desired item, and 3 is a rotary encoder for operation. Rotation detection means detects the rotation of the rotary encoder l and converts it into a pulse signal corresponding to the rotation angle; 4 is an infrared transmitter that transmits pulses generated by the button switch 2 and the rotation detection means 3 to a distant place in the form of infrared modulation; 5 is an infrared receiving device that receives the signal emitted by the infrared transmitting device 4 and demodulates it to the original pulse; 6 is a character display means that displays the functions of the device and displays characters that are options for operation; 7 is the infrared receiving device 5, a cursor display means for displaying a moving cursor according to the generated signal; 8, a video signal;
9 is a superimpose circuit for synthesizing the video signal 8 and signals generated by the character display means 6 and the cursor display means 7; and 10 is a cathode ray tube (CRT) for displaying images.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a specific circuit of the present invention.

A part of the rotation detecting means 3 and the infrared transmitting device 4 are formed by a dedicated microcomputer 20 for the remote control device, and a part of the infrared receiving device 5, the character displaying means 6, and the cursor displaying means 7 are formed by another microcomputer 23. It is configured. The latter microcomputer is CPU-ROM-R
Including AM/input/output section and character generator,
This is a so-called one-chip microcomputer. 21 is a light emitting diode, and 22 is a bin photodiode, which constitute a part of the infrared transmitting device 4 and the infrared receiving device 5, respectively. .

The 1:l-data+J-encoder 1, the microcomputer 20, and the light emitting diode 21 are the operation parts of a remote control device that is placed at a location away from the television receiver to be operated. The button switch 2 is a switch for displaying a menu and a cursor on the screen, and is also used to instruct selection confirmation when a menu is displayed.

When button switch 2 is pressed, microcomputer 20
generates a specific remote control code and lights up the light emitting diode 2I.
, and sends a code indicating that button switch 2 has been pressed. This light is received by a bin photodiode 22, a micro combinator 23 decodes the code, and a built-in character generator generates a video signal for displaying a menu. This is combined with the video signal 8 by the superimpose circuit 9, and a menu display 11 as shown in FIG. 3(A) is displayed on the screen of the television receiver.
and cursor 12 are displayed.

When the rotary encoder 1 of the remote control device is turned here, the rotary encoder 1 generates pulses depending on the rotation angle and rotation direction. This pulse is read by the microcomputer 20 as a code corresponding to the rotation angle and rotation direction and is sent to the microcomputer 2 via the light emitting diode 21 and the bin photodiode 22 as before.
Send to 3. The microcomputer 23 decodes this code and operates the display of the built-in character generator, corresponding to the rotation direction and rotation angle of the rotary encoder 1.
As shown in FIG. 3(B), the position of the cursor I2 displayed on the screen is displayed moving between each item of the menu.

Here, when the cursor is placed on a specific item and the button switch 2 is pressed, the function corresponding to that item is selected and the function is executed.

Next, the operation of the remote control device configured as described above will be explained using the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microcomputer 20 on the sending side.

Step 30, step 31, step 32 during standby
It constantly and repeatedly monitors whether the button switch 2 is pressed and whether the rotary encoder 1 is rotated, that is, whether the state of the microcomputer port to which the rotary encoder 1 is connected has changed. If button switch 2 is pressed, a code indicating that button switch 2 was pressed is generated in step 31. This is transmitted by the infrared transmitter 4.

Further, if it is detected that the rotary encoder 1 has been rotated, that is, that the state of the rotary encoder l has changed, it is determined in step 33 which direction it has been rotated, and in step 34 information on the rotation direction and amount of rotation is detected. Generate code. This is transmitted by the infrared transmitter 4.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microcomputer 23 on the receiving side.

During standby, it is constantly monitored in step 40 to see if a code ' from the transmitting side has been received. If any code is received, the process moves to step 41 and it is checked whether it is the code that was used when button switch 2 was pressed. If it is the code for button switch 2, the process moves to step 46 and checks whether the menu is currently displayed. If the menu is not displayed, the operation of pressing button switch 2 is interpreted as a command to display the menu, and the menu is displayed in step 47. If a menu is displayed, the action of pressing button switch 2 is considered to be the action of selecting the item at the current cursor position from the menu display.
In step 48, the item at the cursor position in the menu is executed.

In step 41, the code was received but the button switch 2
If the code does not correspond to the code, the process moves to step 42, and it is checked whether the code is the one when the rotary encoder 1 is rotated to the right. If so, move the displayed cursor one menu item to the right in step 44, and return to step 40.

If not, it is checked in step 43 whether it is the code to the left of the cursor. If the code is to the left of the cursor, the cursor is moved to the menu item to the left in step 45, and the process returns to step 40. If it is not the code to the left of the cursor, the process directly returns to step 40.

According to the configuration of the above embodiment, the button switch 2 calls up the operation menu on the screen, the rotary encoder l is operated as a jog dial to select the item to be operated, and the button switch 2 is pressed to control the television receiver. operations can be performed. By configuring this menu hierarchically, many functions can be presented in an organized manner in terms of display and operation, making a multi-functional television receiver easy to use.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the remote control device of the present invention realizes more convenient operation than conventional remote control devices in multi-functional television receivers and VTRs.

In addition, since the operation form sends a signal to move the cursor and a signal to select the current cursor position, products with different built-in functions only need to be supported by the screen display form, and the transmitter Because it can be used in common,
This has the advantage that the transmitter can be shared, and is extremely advantageous in practice.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a remote control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a specific circuit of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3A and B are flowcharts for reading. It is. 1...Rotary encoder, 2...-...
Button switch, 3...Rotation detection means, 4...
...Infrared transmitting device, 5...Infrared receiving device, 6...Character display means, 7...Cursor display means, 8...Video signal , 9...
・Superimpose circuit, 10...CRT. 11... Menu display, 12... Cursor, 20... Microcomputer, 21...
...Light emitting diode, 22 ... Pin photodiode, 23 ... Microcomputer.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A rotary encoder, a rotation detection means for detecting the rotation angle of the rotary encoder, a character display means for displaying characters on a display screen, and a cursor displayed at a position corresponding to the character on the display to detect the rotation. A remote control device comprising a cursor display means for moving a cursor display position according to a signal generated by the means. 2. The remote control device according to claim 1, further comprising optical transmitting means and optical receiving means for transmitting the signal generated by the rotation detecting means to a distant place by optical modulation and demodulation.